On Thursday, the Hang Seng Index ended up 0.9 percent
at 23,413 points. The China Enterprises Index of the top
Chinese listings in Hong Kong gained 1.5 percent. Financial
markets in the Chinese territory were shut for a three-day Lunar
New Year holiday and reopened on Thursday.

Mainland China markets are shut all week and will resume
trading on Monday, Feb. 18.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.8
percent, while South Korea's KOSPI was up 0.1 percent at
0045 GMT.

FACTORS TO WATCH:

* Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx)
plans to offer after-hours futures trading from April 8 to allow
investors to hedge or adjust positions when news breaks in the
European or U.S. business day.

* Talks are under way on an asset swap through which
Russia's Norilsk Nickel would gain an interest in the
vast, untapped Udokan copper deposit in Siberia. Hong
Kong-listed aluminium firm UC RUSAL is a major
investor of Norilsk.

* Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd's January car
sales jumped 67 percent year-on-year, or up 7 percent from
December, to a record of 63,532.

* Coach Inc Chief Executive Officer Lew
Frankfort will step down in January and be replaced by the
executive who has overseen the upscale leather-goods maker's
successful expansion in Asia, the firm said on Thursday.

* Lee Hing Development Ltd said its net profit
after tax for 2012 was HK$98 million based on unaudited
consolidated management accounts against a profit of HK$12
million a year ago, lifted by gains from the disposal of trading
investments.

* China Metal International Holdings Inc said its
unaudited revenue for January rose to $25.8 million from $20.8
million a year ago.